Railway car wall brace



March 8, 1949. c. HANKINS RAILWAY GAR WALL BRACE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jun 17, 1944 as @7114 flan/1151.9,

March 8, 1949. c. HANKINS RAILWAY CAR WALL BRACE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 17,. 1944 4pm Han/r076,

+ l I I 4 I I I I I I I I I'll ll \lllll Illl J J March 8, 1949. c. H'ANKINS RAILWAY CAR WALL BRACE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 17, 1944 Patented Mar. 8, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAILWAY CAR WALL BRACE Cyrus Hankins, Washington, D. C.

Application June 17, 1944, Serial No. 540,760

6 Claims. 1

My invention relates to railway freight cars and more particularly to braces or arms which are applied in inclined position to the inside of walls of hopper and gondola cars.

The principal object of the invention is to pro- Vide a cast steel brace for the use indicated which will have the greatest possible strength transversely and vertically with the smallest amount of material.

Another object of the invention is to provide an effective cast steel brace of such shape that it can be cast without the use of cores and will not cause harmful stresses to be set up therein upon shrinkage after casting.

A primary feature of the invention resides in providing a cast steel brace with reversely curved portions which are arranged so as to be in sequence in a direction substantially perpendicular to the car wall to be braced and which extend from substantially one end of the brace to the other.

Other and more specific features of the invention, residing in advantageous forms, combinations and relations of parts, will hereinafter appear and be pointed out in the claims. 1

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a partial transverse sectional view of a railway hopper car of the outside stake type showing a brace embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the brace illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary end elevational view of the upper part of the brace as seen from the left of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view taken on line 4--4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, of a slightly modified form of my invention.

Figure 6 is an elevational view of the brace shown in Figure 5 as viewed from the right side thereof.

Figure 7 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on line 'l-'l of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on the angular line B--8 of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view of a railway car of the outside stake type showing another embodiment of my invention.

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken on line Ill-10 of Figure 9.

Figure 11 is a detailed sectional view of the brace taken on line i l--ll of Fig. 9.

Referring more particularly to the drawings,

the sectional view of the railway hopper car shown in Figure 1 for purposes of illustrating the invention is of conventional design having side walls I provided with stakes 2 which extend vertically from the top coping angle 3 to the side sill 4. The sectional view shown in Figure 1 is taken just in front of the vertical cross bearer plate 5 and shows one of the inclined floor sheets 6 in section which diverge downwardly from and are rigidly secured to the upper portion of the vertical plate 5. An inverted U-shaped cap 1 is shown as embracing the upper ends of the inclined floor sheets and the cross bearer 5, being rigidly secured thereto by rivets 8.

The brace 9 embodying my invention shown in Figure 1 is of the same shape in cross section as the brace shown in Figure '7. It consists of a pair of reversely curved portions l0 and H which extend from substantially one end of the brace to the other. The curved portions are arranged so as to be in sequence in a direction substantially normal to the wall to be braced.

The outer curved portion ll preferably terminates in a substantially flat flange I2 of substantially greater thickness than other portions of the brace. In this manner the brace is amply strengthened at that point where abrasion and load are greatest.

Th inner end of curved portion in of the brace, that is the curved portion adapted to be disposed nearest the wall to be braced, may advantageously terminate in a thickened portion 13 which extends for a short distance substantially perpendicularly to the wall of the car.

Each curved portion of the brace is preferably rigidified by one or more transverse ribs l4. In the brace shown in Figure 1, the outer curved portion ll thereof is provided with two transverse ribs ]4 and the inner curved portion l0 thereof is provided with three such ribs but those skilled in the art will appreciate that the number of ribs with which each curved portion is provided may be varied to meet different conditions.

The degree of curvature of each of the portions 18 and H of the brace may also be varied but the curvature of neither should exceed so that the brace may be easily cast. Not only will the reversely curved portions enable the material of the brace to shrink without setting up stresses therein after being cast, but they also aid materially in strengthening the brace against forces acting in a direction perpendicular to the flat flange l2 as well as against forces which during unloading might by some extraneous means be caused to act upon the brace in a direction longitudinally of the car.

The cross sectional shape of the brace is such that it can easily accommodate a variety of different shaped members for connecting it to the wall and to the floor of the car. In Figure l the brace is shown as integrally provided at its upper end with a plate portion I5 by which it is rigidly connected to the wall of the car. This plate has an inwardly extending triangularly shaped recess I6 having :a wall I1 substantially perpendicular to the axis of the brace. The flat flange I2 of the outer curved portion II is of substantially the same width as the recess I6 and merges easily into the front wall I8 of the recess I6. Other parts of the reversely curved portions also readily merge into the plate I5 as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

In addition, the flat flange I2 on the outer edge of the brace is of such thickness that, in efiect, it forms a reservoir during the casting operation, similar to a feed head or gate, from which metal may easily flow into thinner sections of the casting to thereby insure metal of the proper amount to be disposed in the reversely curved'portions of the brace and thus prevent the formation of cavities within the casting which some times occur during the solidification of the molten metal of improperly designed castings in their molds.

- the flat flange I2 joins the plate I9, it is preferably curved inwardly asindicated at and a single rigidifying rib 2| continues on to the upper edge of the plate.

The lower end of the brace, having any desired upper end for connection to the wall to be braced, is preferably forked as at 22, as usual, to straddle the cap enclosing the upper ends of the floor sheets and cross bearer sheet so that it may be rigidly connected to the cap. The forked lower end is formed integrally with the brace and the curved portions thereof merge easily into it, as shown in the drawings.

The brace embodying my invention may, of course; be easily used in the A. A. R. conventional inside side stake railway car by merely providing the upper portion thereof with a suitable median flange 23, as shown in Figures 9, 10 and 11, for attachment to a side stake rigidly connected to the inner side of the side walls of the car. In such a construction, where the same reference numerals have been applied to the reversely curved body portion of the brace, as in other figures, it is necessary, as shown in Figure 9, for the fiat flange I2 and the reversely curved portions I0 and II to taper toward the median flange 23. In Figure 9, the curved area of the brace designated a is that part of the curved portion I I which inclines toward the flange 23 and the area designated b is that part of the curved portion II) which inclines toward the flange.

It will, of course,.be appre-- .4 dated that areas a and b converge toward the flange.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have designed a cast steel brace or arm for the interior of hopper or gondola cars which is of greatest possible strength transversely and vertically with the least use of metal and is capable of being formed at its ends in such manner as to enable it to be connected to all wall and floor constructions of hopper and gondola cars. Various changes in details of the brace may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A cast steel brace for the walls of freight cars adapted to be arranged in inclined position within the car, said brace comprising reversely curved portions the axes of curvature of which are substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the brace, said portions extending substantially continuously from adjacent one end of the brace to the other, said reversely curved portions being arranged so as to be in sequence in a direction substantially normal to the wall to be braced, the outer portion of the reversely curved portion nearest the center of the car having a longitudinally extending flat portion of substantially greater thickness than other portions of said reversely curved portions.

2.-A cast steel brace for the walls of freight cars adapted to be arranged in inclined position curved portions the axes of curvature of which are substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the brace, said portions extending longitudinally of the brace for the major part of its length, said curved portions being arranged so as to be in sequencein a direction substantially normal to the wall to be braced, the curved portion which is adapted to be disposed nearest the center of the car terminating in a flat flange substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the car.

3. A cast steel brace for the walls of freight cars adapted to be arranged in inclined position within the car, said brace comprising reversely curved portions the axes of curvature of which are substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis thereof, said portions extending from substantially one end of the brace to the other, said curved portions being arranged so as to hem sequence in a direction substantially normal to the wall to be braced, the curved portion of the brace which is adapted to be disposed nearest the wall of the car terminating in a portion substantially normal to said wall and the curved portion of the brace which is adapted to be disposed nearest the center of the car terminating in a flat portion substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the car.

4. A cast steel brace for the walls of freight cars adapted to be arranged in inclined position within the car, said brace comprising a pair of reversely curved portions the axes of curvature of which are substantially parallelwith the longitudinal axis thereof, said portions extending from substantially one end of the brace to the other, said curved portions being arranged so as to be in sequence in a direction substantially normal to the wall to be braced, the outer end of the curved portion which is adapted to be arranged nearest the center of the carterminating in a flat flange substantially parallel With the longitudinal axis of the car and being in a direction substantially normal to the Wall to 10 be braced, the reversely curved portion which is adapted to be disposed nearest the center of the car terminating in a substantially flat flange substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the car, and rigidifying ribs extending trans- 15 versely of the last named curved portion.

6. A cast steel brace for the walls of freight cars adapted to be arranged in inclined position within the car, said brace comprising a pair of reversely curved portions the axes of curvature of which are substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the brace, said portions extending from substantially one end of the brace to the other, said curved portions being arranged so as to be in sequence in a direction substantially normal to the wall to be braced and the curve of each portion being of no greater eX- tent than 180, and rigidifying ribs extending transversely of each of said curved portions.

CYRUS HANKINS.

No references cited. 

